With the release of UAD2, Universal Audio is blowing out its stock of UAD1e cards. The prices are pretty phenomenal:

• UAD1e Express Pak (includes $100 voucher for UAD plugins) was $399 and is now is $299
• UAD1e Expert Pak (includes $750 voucher) listed for $999 (MAP was probably around $899) and is now $599
• UAD1e Extreme Pak (includes all 32 plugins thru version 4.5) listed for $2499 and is now $1299.

UAD-1 Powered Plugins Included with each card:

• 1176SE: Definitive Vintage FET Compressor Emulations
• CS-1: Complete Professional Channel Strip (+3 plug-in modules, included)
• Nigel: Amp, Cab, & FX for Guitar and Beyond (+8 plug-in modules, included)
• Pultec EQP-1A: Classic Silky EQ
• RealVerb Pro: Industry Standard Reverb

The siren call of the blow out sale...

Now the crazy thing: UAD is having a promotion wherein if you purchase and register a new UAD-1 (PCI), UAD-1e, or Xpander, your ‘my.uaudio.com’ account will be awarded with an additional UAD$150 coupon, good for any Powered Plug-In in the UA Web Store. So add $150 to each of the vouchers up there.

The deal is looking pretty sweet.

Now you may ask, why bother with a UAD1e when the new UAD2s are out? Really has to do with price and what capabilities will work for you. Take a look at this chart. It details how may plugin instances you can get running in your UAD1e or UAD2 card. So a question is “Is the number of EQs/Compressors/Reverbs/Etc enough to make the UAD1e kit enticing for you at these new price points?”

After all, you can always buy a UAD2 card in the future (all of the UAD1 plugins save Nigel are or will be upwards compatible), upgrade your licenses to run on both cards ($25 each license starting in 2009 I believe), and run the two cards together…

A Google search will bring up retailers running this deal.

Cheers.